Group dynamics are the influential actions, processes and changes that occur within and between groups. Norris Haynes defines a group as “an entity comprised of individuals who come together for a common purpose and whose behaviour in the group are guided by a set of shared values and norms”. The elements of this definition that separate a group from a crowd or just an assembly of people are: a common purpose, shared values and shared norms (Haynes, 2012). The line between what constitute a team and what constitute a group is quite blurry. The video below give a simple but effective difference between a team and a group.
Video 1: Difference between a group and a team
Types of groups
There are many different types of groups which can be classified into two broad categories: Functional groups and Identity groups. The former are groups which are created to achieve a particular purpose and consists of focus groups, task groups etc.. Identity groups on the other hand are groups that are classified by the nature of the affiliation that members of the groups share with one another and consist of family groups, friendship groups or open groups (Haynes, 2012).
What do groups do?
McGrath's Circumplex
Groups do so many things that their activities can be classified in a variety of ways. Joseph E. McGrath’s circumplex model of group tasks distinguishes among four basic group goals: generating, choosing, negotiating, and executing. As Figure 1 indicates, each of these basic categories can be further subdivided, yielding a total of eight basic tasks. When groups work at generating tasks, they strive to concoct the strategies they will use to accomplish their goals (planning tasks) or to create altogether new ideas and approaches to their problems (creativity tasks). When choosing, groups make decisions about issues that have correct solutions (intellective tasks ) or questions that can be answered in many ways (decision-making tasks). When groups are negotiating, they must resolve differences of opinion among members regarding their goals or decisions (cognitive conflict tasks) or resolve competitive disputes among members (mixed-motive tasks). The most behaviourally oriented groups actually do things: Executing groups compete against other groups (contests/battles) or perform (performances). Some groups perform tasks from nearly all of McGrath’s categories, whereas others concentrate on only one subset of goals (Forsyth, 2006).
Figure 1: McGrath’s task circumplex (extracted from Forsyth, 2006).
Tuckman's stages of Group Development
The Tuckman's model describes the stages of development which a small group goes through. The classical mode, which was first published in 1965, identified four stages of forming, storming, norming and performing. The model was revised in 1977 by Tuckman and Jensen to add the 'adjourning' stage.
Figure 2: Tuckman and Jensen (1977) revised model of small group development (Forsyth, 2006)
Stage 1: Forming
The first stage of the model is 'testing and dependence'. In this stage, the group becomes oriented to the task, creates ground rules and test the boundaries for interpersonal and task behaviours. This is also the stage in which group members establish relationship with leaders, organisational standards and each other.
Stage 2: Storming
This phase is characterised by lack of unity and polarisation around interpersonal issues. Group members resist moving into unknown areas of interpersonal relations and seek to retain security. They become hostile toward one another, express their individuality and resist the formation of group structure.
Stage 3: Norming
During the third stage, the group develops cohesion. Group members accept each other's idiosyncrasies and express personal opinions. Roles and norms are established and the group discovers the most effective ways to work with each other. At this stage, the group becomes an etity as members develop in-group feeling and seek to maintain and perpetuate the group. Task conflicts are avoided in an effort to ensure harmony.
Stage 4: Performing
The group becomes a 'problem-solving' instrument as members adapt and play roles that will enhance the task activities. Structure is supportive of task performance. Roles become flexible and functional and group energy is channeled into the task.
Stage 5: Adjourning
Adjourning, is the break-up of the group, hopefully when the task is completed successfully, its purpose fulfilled; everyone can move on to new things, feeling good about what's been achieved.
Group Structure
Group structure is the underlying pattern of roles, norms and relationship between the different members of the group. Norms are the emergent, consensual standards that regulate group member's behaviours. Roles are deliberately created to organise the group and thereby facilitate the attainment of the group's goals.
The size of the group is also a major factor in determining its structure as well as its effectiveness in achieving its goal. Groups which are small, i.e two or three members, tend to have a low level of cohesiveness and efficiency whereas increase the number of group members tend to increase Social Loafing. The group leadership is also a factor which may make or break a group.
Conflict resolution
Group members do not always get along well with one another. Even in the most serene circumstances the group's atmosphere may shift rapidly, so that once close collaborators become hostile adversaries. This was recognised in Tuckman's model and falls under the 'storming' stage which groups must go through before becoming productive.
Why conflict occurs?
As a group works on shared task and activities, members sometimes disagree with one another. This type of conflict is termed task conflict and is by far the most prevalent type of conflict which occurs within a group. Although task conflicts help groups reach their goals, if not properly managed and dealt with, these disagreement may spill over into more personal conflicts. Task conflict occurs when ideas, opinions and interpretations on how to perform the task at hand clashes.
Personal conflicts on the other hand are rooted in the individual's antipathies for other group members. Personal likes and dislikes do not always translate into group conflict but people often mention their disaffection for another group member when they air complaints about their groups.
Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the process of resolving a dispute or a conflict by meeting at least some of each side’s needs and addressing their interests. Knowing how to manage and resolve conflict is essential for having a productive work life, and it is important for community and family life as well. A number of tools can be used to help in the conflict resolution process and involves, negotiation, improve communication and understanding. Videos below give example on how these tools can be used to help in resolving conflicts.
Video 2:TED Conflict Negotiation
Video 3: Nelson Mandela, Negotiation and Conflict Management: David Venter at TEDxEutropolis
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References
1. Bonebright, DA 2010, '40 years of storming: a historical review of Tuckman's model of small group development', Human Resource Development International, 13, 1, pp. 111-120, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 November 2014.
2. Chun, J, & Choi, J 2014, 'Members’ needs, intragroup conflict, and group performance', Journal Of Applied Psychology, 99, 3, pp. 437-450, PsycARTICLES, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 November 2014.
3. Forsyth, D. R., 2006. Group Dynamics. 4th ed. s.l.:Thompson Learning.
4. Haynes, N. M., 2012. Group Dynamics: Basics and Pragmatics for Practitioners. s.l.:University Press of America.
5. JEHN, K, RISPENS, S, & THATCHER, S 2010, 'THE EFFECTS OF CONFLICT ASYMMETRY ON WORK GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL OUTCOMES', Academy Of Management Journal, 53, 3, pp. 596-616, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 November 2014.
Group Dynamics
Group dynamics are the influential actions, processes and changes that occur within and between groups. Norris Haynes defines a group as “an entity comprised of individuals who come together for a common purpose and whose behaviour in the group are guided by a set of shared values and norms”. The elements of this definition that separate a group from a crowd or just an assembly of people are: a common purpose, shared values and shared norms (Haynes, 2012). The line between what constitute a team and what constitute a group is quite blurry. The video below give a simple but effective difference between a team and a group.
Video 1: Difference between a group and a team
Types of groups
There are many different types of groups which can be classified into two broad categories: Functional groups and Identity groups. The former are groups which are created to achieve a particular purpose and consists of focus groups, task groups etc.. Identity groups on the other hand are groups that are classified by the nature of the affiliation that members of the groups share with one another and consist of family groups, friendship groups or open groups (Haynes, 2012).
What do groups do?
McGrath's Circumplex
Groups do so many things that their activities can be classified in a variety of ways. Joseph E. McGrath’s circumplex model of group tasks distinguishes among four basic group goals: generating, choosing, negotiating, and executing. As Figure 1 indicates, each of these basic categories can be further subdivided, yielding a total of eight basic tasks. When groups work at generating tasks, they strive to concoct the strategies they will use to accomplish their goals (planning tasks) or to create altogether new ideas and approaches to their problems (creativity tasks). When choosing, groups make decisions about issues that have correct solutions (intellective tasks ) or questions that can be answered in many ways (decision-making tasks). When groups are negotiating, they must resolve differences of opinion among members regarding their goals or decisions (cognitive conflict tasks) or resolve competitive disputes among members (mixed-motive tasks). The most behaviourally oriented groups actually do things: Executing groups compete against other groups (contests/battles) or perform (performances). Some groups perform tasks from nearly all of McGrath’s categories, whereas others concentrate on only one subset of goals (Forsyth, 2006).
Figure 1: McGrath’s task circumplex (extracted from Forsyth, 2006).
Tuckman's stages of Group Development
The Tuckman's model describes the stages of development which a small group goes through. The classical mode, which was first published in 1965, identified four stages of forming, storming, norming and performing. The model was revised in 1977 by Tuckman and Jensen to add the 'adjourning' stage.
Figure 2: Tuckman and Jensen (1977) revised model of small group development (Forsyth, 2006)
Stage 1: Forming
The first stage of the model is 'testing and dependence'. In this stage, the group becomes oriented to the task, creates ground rules and test the boundaries for interpersonal and task behaviours. This is also the stage in which group members establish relationship with leaders, organisational standards and each other.
Stage 2: Storming
This phase is characterised by lack of unity and polarisation around interpersonal issues. Group members resist moving into unknown areas of interpersonal relations and seek to retain security. They become hostile toward one another, express their individuality and resist the formation of group structure.
Stage 3: Norming
During the third stage, the group develops cohesion. Group members accept each other's idiosyncrasies and express personal opinions. Roles and norms are established and the group discovers the most effective ways to work with each other. At this stage, the group becomes an etity as members develop in-group feeling and seek to maintain and perpetuate the group. Task conflicts are avoided in an effort to ensure harmony.
Stage 4: Performing
The group becomes a 'problem-solving' instrument as members adapt and play roles that will enhance the task activities. Structure is supportive of task performance. Roles become flexible and functional and group energy is channeled into the task.
Stage 5: Adjourning
Adjourning, is the break-up of the group, hopefully when the task is completed successfully, its purpose fulfilled; everyone can move on to new things, feeling good about what's been achieved.
Group Structure
Group structure is the underlying pattern of roles, norms and relationship between the different members of the group. Norms are the emergent, consensual standards that regulate group member's behaviours. Roles are deliberately created to organise the group and thereby facilitate the attainment of the group's goals.
The size of the group is also a major factor in determining its structure as well as its effectiveness in achieving its goal. Groups which are small, i.e two or three members, tend to have a low level of cohesiveness and efficiency whereas increase the number of group members tend to increase Social Loafing. The group leadership is also a factor which may make or break a group.
Conflict resolution
Group members do not always get along well with one another. Even in the most serene circumstances the group's atmosphere may shift rapidly, so that once close collaborators become hostile adversaries. This was recognised in Tuckman's model and falls under the 'storming' stage which groups must go through before becoming productive.
Why conflict occurs?
As a group works on shared task and activities, members sometimes disagree with one another. This type of conflict is termed task conflict and is by far the most prevalent type of conflict which occurs within a group. Although task conflicts help groups reach their goals, if not properly managed and dealt with, these disagreement may spill over into more personal conflicts. Task conflict occurs when ideas, opinions and interpretations on how to perform the task at hand clashes.
Personal conflicts on the other hand are rooted in the individual's antipathies for other group members. Personal likes and dislikes do not always translate into group conflict but people often mention their disaffection for another group member when they air complaints about their groups.
Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the process of resolving a dispute or a conflict by meeting at least some of each side’s needs and addressing their interests. Knowing how to manage and resolve conflict is essential for having a productive work life, and it is important for community and family life as well. A number of tools can be used to help in the conflict resolution process and involves, negotiation, improve communication and understanding. Videos below give example on how these tools can be used to help in resolving conflicts.
Video 2: TED Conflict Negotiation
Video 3: Nelson Mandela, Negotiation and Conflict Management: David Venter at TEDxEutropolis
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Donelson R. ForsythReferences
1. Bonebright, DA 2010, '40 years of storming: a historical review of Tuckman's model of small group development', Human Resource Development International, 13, 1, pp. 111-120, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 November 2014.
2. Chun, J, & Choi, J 2014, 'Members’ needs, intragroup conflict, and group performance', Journal Of Applied Psychology, 99, 3, pp. 437-450, PsycARTICLES, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 November 2014.
3. Forsyth, D. R., 2006. Group Dynamics. 4th ed. s.l.:Thompson Learning.
4. Haynes, N. M., 2012. Group Dynamics: Basics and Pragmatics for Practitioners. s.l.:University Press of America.
5. JEHN, K, RISPENS, S, & THATCHER, S 2010, 'THE EFFECTS OF CONFLICT ASYMMETRY ON WORK GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL OUTCOMES', Academy Of Management Journal, 53, 3, pp. 596-616, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 26 November 2014.